Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Short Interest Up 7.0% in March

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,870,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the March 15th total of 20,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.5 days. Approximately 7.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $24.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.17 and a 200 day moving average of $26.29. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $21.88 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 65.26%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 50.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 460,768 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $12,952,000 after buying an additional 34,980 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 46,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after buying an additional 24,409 shares in the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 103,617 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after buying an additional 1,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $885,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.39.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.